Flowering Plum

In his mid-30s, Hokusai absorbed the visual vocabularies of Rinpa style, celebrated for its dynamic designs and decorative and patterned motifs with references to classical court culture. Here, Hokusai painted each plum flower in a Rinpalike manner, with brushwork that also resembles Rinpa style capturing the bark texture. However, the artist added his own signature elements. Hokusai painted the plum branch as an energetic motif extending outside of the composition, with many new shoots sprouting from the body. The included poem (by an unknown author) signals the arrival of spring in a humorous style:

[Although] male bush warbler [sings beautifully to announce the arrival of spring], his wife does not hear [him].